Dynamic voices for a diverse church.

This is Past the Mike.

Hey folks, this is Jermar Tisby and welcome to a special episode of Past the Mike.

Every year around the 4th of July, thoughtful people, historically informed people, racially

conscious people, start thinking about the meaning of the 4th of July for all people in

America.

We can think back to the Declaration of Independence and its lofty words about life, liberty, and

the pursuit of happiness, knowing full well that in 1776, not all people were free, not

all people had their liberty, and at the same time, certain people in the United States

were declaring their independence from Britain.

There were people, people of African descent, held in chains.

Women had hardly any of their civil or human rights.

The fate of Americans constantly being pushed off of their land and massacred.

In so many ways, this was not a land of opportunity for everyone.

And few people have encapsulated that tension and that contradiction better than Frederick

Douglas, a formerly enslaved black man who emancipated himself.

He went on to become an abolitionist and a statesman and an outspoken leader in the

Black Freedom struggle, and indeed the American struggle for justice.

In 1852, he gave an address called what to the slave is the 4th of July.

Now many of you have probably heard of this speech by now, maybe have listened to or read

an excerpt, but if you're like me and many other people, you maybe don't have time to

sit and read the entire thing all the way through, or even to watch some of the many

...